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Bill Maher Calls Colin Kaepernick a "F*cking Idiot," But Not for the Reason You Think

Shawn is a Senior Staff Writer at Complex and the host of The Cipher, a critically acclaimed hip-hop podcast that conducts in-depth interviews with the genre’s most interesting and important figures.

Shawn is also the former editor-in-chief of Rap Genius, and has written about music and culture for Forbes, The Atlantic, Vibe, The Source, GQ, Esquire, The Sondheim Review, and more.

Oct 01, 2016

Image via Getty/Jeff Kravitz

On the Friday night episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, the show's host teed off on everybody's favorite national-anthem-protester Colin Kaepernick. Maher proclaimed the quarterback a "f*cking idiot." But for once, it was a criticism that had nothing to do with Kaepernick's ongoing protest.

Maher quoted Kap's assessment that "Both [Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton] are proven liars and it almost seems like they’re trying to debate who’s less racist." That, Maher said, was simply untrue. He described it as a "false equivalency."

"They're not both proven liars," he protested. "Politifact has looked at this. She lies less than most politicians. He lies more than anyone they've ever seen. And they're not both racists. Donald Trump is a racist. Hillary Clinton works her whole life for the opposite."

Maher previously made a version of this same critique on Twitter.

Maher's monologue, and the sometimes-heated exchange that followed, can be seen over at Mediaite.